Working Paper: NBER ID: w29362
Authors: Orazio Attanasio; Sarah Cattan; Costas Meghir
Abstract: Children's experiences during early childhood are critical for their cognitive and socio-emotional development, two key dimensions of human capital. However, children from low income backgrounds often grow up lacking stimulation and basic investments, leading to developmental deficits that are difficult, if not impossible, to reverse later in life without intervention. The existence of these deficits are a key driver of inequality and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of poverty. In this paper, we discuss the framework used in economics to model parental investments and early childhood development and use it as an organizing tool to review some of the empirical evidence on early childhood research. We then present results from various important early childhoods interventions with emphasis on developing countries. Bringing these elements together we draw conclusions on what we have learned and provide some directions for future research.
Keywords: Early Childhood Development; Human Capital; Poverty
JEL Codes: I24; I25; I3; J24; O15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| family income (D31) | early childhood development (I25) |
| poverty (I32) | developmental deficits (O11) |
| early language skills (G53) | later educational outcomes (I21) |
| parenting behaviors (J13) | child developmental outcomes (J13) |
| lack of knowledge about child-rearing practices (J13) | developmental deficits (O11) |
| improving parental knowledge (G53) | better child outcomes (J13) |
| parental investments (J13) | child human capital (J24) |
| socioeconomic gradient in human development (O15) | gaps in parental investments (I24) |